


Just Nerves

by the_big_pie_number1



Category: Free!, Free! Eternal Summer - Fandom, Free! iwaotbi swim club
Genre: Blushing, Fluff, Free! - Freeform, Getting Together, Hugging, M/M, Oblivious!Rin, Requited Crush, but in a wholesome way, hand holding, haru is #supportive, maybe... too much blushing, nervous Rin, rin cant keep his hands to himself, set in between eternal summer and dive to the future
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-16
Updated: 2020-06-16
Packaged: 2021-03-04 02:47:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,064
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24746314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/the_big_pie_number1/pseuds/the_big_pie_number1
Summary: prompt • rin centric • past tenseRin trying to ask Haru out and stuttering a lot and Haru ends up coaching him through it bc he's so nervousread those tags baby
Relationships: Haru/Rin, Nanase Haruka/Matsuoka Rin, Sharkbait
Comments: 6
Kudos: 80





	Just Nerves

_Iwatobi has a nice pool._ Rin thought, as he silently watched Haru and his teammates’ practice from the long shadows of the late afternoon sky. He stood there for a couple more minutes, mainly keeping his eyes glued to the blue goggles of his rival gracefully going up and down the lanes. 

Until suddenly-

“BIG BROTHER!” He heard Gou shriek from the poolside, running towards him. _So much for stealth._ He grabbed his cap to hide his rolling eyes. 

“Hey, Gou.” He said, taking a hand out of his Samezuka jacket pocket to give her a quick one-armed hug.

“Rin-Rin is here!” Nagisa called excitedly as he hauled himself out of the pool to hug him. 

“Noooo…” Rin groaned. “I'm all wet again.” He jokingly huffed.

“I don't care!” Nagisa smiled as he squeezed even tighter.

“Still big on hugs, huh, Nagisa?” Rin laughed as he was finally set free. Nagisa ran off somewhere behind him to rehydrate. 

“Hi, Rin.” 

Haru was fresh out of the pool and dripping wet as they locked eyes with one another. Rin’s breath caught in his throat. Haru always seemed to catch him off-guard. Always getting himself lost in his strong azure gaze. He had to tear his eyes away, and fast. He didn't want any suspicion to arise. 

“Haru.” Rin nodded, smiling a little bashfully. 

There was a slight lull, where all they could hear was the splash of Haru’s teammates before- 

“Is Nagisa the only one who gets a hug?” Haru asked. And so matter-of-factly too. His face, somehow blank as ever.

Rin’s eyes went wide. His ears turned red so fast that they practically blended in with his hair.

“Uhm, no.” He said, thinking on his feet. “Gou got one too…” _Idiot_ , Rin thought. _I'm an idiot_. 

“Right…” 

“...”

“...” 

“Would you like one?” Rin blurted. Fuck. Okay. Shit. Couldn't take _that_ back now. 

With an embarrassed smile, he awkwardly let his arms open slowly towards Haru; who, Rin noticed, had the tiniest hint of pink in his cheeks, as he gave one quick nod.

Rin ever so carefully wrapped his arms around Haru’s waist and lifted his hands to his damp, glistening shoulders. Haru gently rested his chin on Rin’s right shoulder and leaned into him. He felt Haru’s affirming grip on his back as he silently breathed him in. Rin clung just that little bit harder. 

He started to worry that Haru could feel his heart rate, so he very reluctantly let go, making sure not to take his hands off of Haru until the last socially-acceptable second. And he was already pushing it. He’d just wanted to savor that touch between them. It could've been four seconds or four minutes or four _hours_ and Rin wouldn't have known. 

“How come you don't complain when _he's_ all wet?” He heard Nagisa whine from behind him, totally killing the moment, as Gou giggled to herself.

“Because some little blond kid already soaked me.” Rin grinned at Nagisa’s defiant pout. 

He turned back to Haru, very belatedly realising he was still loosely curling his fingers around Haru’s. His easy smile quickly vanished as he swiftly dropped Haru’s fingers, avoiding his eyes, stuffing his hands back into his pockets and hiding under his hat again. He's got to be beet red by now. 

His stomach had flipped countless times in the past minute; his fingers still tingling where they'd made contact with Haru’s slender ones. He's probably just imagined how Haru’s hand lingered with disappointment in the suddenly charged air between them. 

Just then, Rei and Makoto emerged from the pool with their towels around their shoulders. Rin was grateful for the distraction. His awkwardness was getting out of hand. 

Despite the fact he was still slightly flustered, he turned and greeted the other two with wide smiles and fist bumps. 

Once everyone had showered up and got dressed, it was unanimously decided that Rin would join them all for the walk home. 

They even took a vote. Rei and Nagisa forced them.

And if seeing Haru’s carefully calculated raised hand didn't make Rin’s day, nothing would. 

\--.--

_Shit._

He just did it _again._

_It's got to be noticeable at this point._

Once again, Rin found himself with his hands on Haru. 

Whether it was a hand on his shoulder or his back, a reassuring elbow-grab, _holding his hand too long_ , his brain emphasised; more and more often, Rin had his hands all over Haru. 

He could only _just_ stop himself, ahem, _usually_. But as of late, his lack of self control was ridiculous. He was just so happy that they'd grown so much closer since they'd finally managed to work out their years-long relay-based tension. Unfortunately for Rin, due to this, he'd finally been forced to confront his… non relay-based feelings… that he may or may not harbour in relation to Haru. 

He still had his arm around Haru’s shoulder. The others were definitely starting to think something was up. 

Even though Rin _had_ come by Iwatobi after practice to visit all of the guys, he’d also kinda been hoping he could speak to Haru… alone. Rin gulped at the thought. He quickly glanced at Haru from under his hair, and caught a glimpse of his stark blue eyes looking right back at him. The only sound was the distant ocean, the singing birds, and their friends’ chatter from up ahead. 

Thankfully, Rin couldn't detect any disgust in Haru’s eyes, but he was hard to read at the best of times. He quickly looked back to the path in front of them. Taking his arm back from around Haru seemed like the best course of action, in order to keep up the idea that what he felt for Haru was purely platonic. 

Of course. Definitely. So it doesn't look like Rin’s, like, staking his claim or anything.

_What if I am, though?,_ the more possessive part of him suggested, _He is MY rival after all..._

_Shut up!_

“Rin.” He heard a soft voice say beside him. He jumped being brought out of his thoughts so abruptly, and quickly took his arm back.

“What! Sorry!” Rin found himself saying. Full of worry and unnecessary panic at the thought he’d been caught _thinking_ about Haru. If he didn’t laugh at himself, he would cry.

Haru and the others looked at him like he’d grown another head for a second. 

“Are you okay?” Nagisa asked delicately. 

“Uh yeah,” Rin replied. He supposed his face was just going to be permanently red today.

“Well, it’s time for us to part ways,” Rei explained as he and Nagisa started to turn onto a small side path. “We’ll be seeing you soon enough!”

“You guys better be ready for the next relay.” Rin said with a smirk.

“We will be! Bye you guys!” Nagisa waved as he skipped off down the pathway.

Makoto was chuckling at his friends' bubbliness as he and Haru said their goodbyes. 

\--

“I’ll see you two later!” Makoto waved at Rin and Haru with a beaming smile, going into his own house.

“Yeah, see ya.” Haru said back with a small wave and an affectionate blink in Mako’s direction. Rin couldn't get over how endearing that interaction was to him. 

Haru let out a calm breath. Rin couldn't stop watching him. He's totally fucked. _I'm totally FUCKED_ , he thought. 

They stepped in a comfortable silence around the corner to Haru’s. Feeling the summer breeze on his skin and through his hair had such a calming effect that he almost forgot about his plan. 

His talking-alone-with-Haru plan. A spike of butterflies shot through him thinking about it. 

Slowing to a stop as they reached Haru’s house, he turned to face Rin. Rin noticed Haru’s fingers squeezing the strap of his bag just that much tighter and pointedly not looking at him when he quietly asked, “Would you like to come in?” 

Rin couldn't stop the smile on his face if he tried. “Yeah, sure.” he replied softly as he saw a tiny smile etch itself onto Harus’ face. 

“Aw Haru, you're too cute.” Rin commented out loud; laughing and pinching his friend's cheek lightly before he thought about it. 

He felt the wave of mortification about to bubble up inside of him but before it got the chance, Haru pulled Rin's hand gently away with a very small chuckle. They're faces were so, so close together. Haru was even more breathtaking this close up. He blinked slowly as they stared at each other and started dropping Rin's hand, taking a step into his house. 

“Shut up. I just like spending time with you.” He said with his back to Rin, plodding into the living room. Rin's fingers were tingling again. 

Rin was left lightly stunned in the entryway. He started smiling again as he followed Haru inside. _Now or never_ , he thought, taking a deep breath. 

\--

“You know, I was gonna speak to you about something…” Rin started, taking his hat off as he sat adjacent to Haru at the low living room table. 

“Okay.” Haru answers evenly with his hands in his lap. 

Rin suddenly felt like a deer caught in headlights. He'd never really thought about how it would feel to _actually_ tell Haru in the moment. How he would start. What he would actually _say_ to encapsulate all his ‘feelings’ for Haru. Haru listening to him intently. 

“Well, um…” He tried, nervously putting a hand through the hair on the back of his head. “It's like… about the fact we're friends.” 

Haru had the decency to look a little worried. “You don't like being friends?” 

“No!” Rin was quick to amend, “I mean, of course I like being friends. Being friends with you and the guys is so important to me. It's not that…” 

“So, what is it then?” Haru asked delicately. 

“It's just that you and me… are friends.” Rin is useless at this. “And I… really, I like, when we… like you said earlier,” Rin glanced between his fingers tapping the tabletop and Haru encouragingly nodding. “I like hanging out, with you… specifically.” _Maybe he couldn't actually do this..._

Rin noticed Haru place his hand on the table top. “And...?” He asked, sensing Rin might have more to add. 

Rin’s tapping continued. “And… you… mean a lot to me and sometimes…” Haru hummed for him to go on. “Sometimes I worry that I like being around you too much… and I wanted to tell you that I…” He squeezed his eyes shut, taking an uncomfortable breath. 

Rin gasped as he felt a gentle touch on the back of his sweating hand, “Haru, I-”

“It's okay, Rin.” Haru assured him, covering his hand fully.

There was a lull in which Rin had to take time to force himself to finally look into Haru’s face. 

“So, are you saying that you... like me?” Haru asked quietly and directly. 

Rin felt himself nodding and stuttering, butterfly's shooting around inside of him. Still in disbelief that Haru was holding his hand and they were talking about this. 

“Okay.” Haru said again. “Does that mean, that I can do this?” 

Rin started to ask “Do what?” before he was interrupted by Haru’s lips meeting his own. They shared the shy kiss for a few seconds. Rin's heart was practically beating out of his chest when Haru rested a hand on the side of his face. 

The kiss came to a stop as they leaned on each other's forehead and caught their breath. Rin was feeling so ecstatic that his cheeks were starting to hurt from his smile. 

“I take that as a you-like-me-too then.” Rin smirked, eyes sparkling as they looked at each other. Redness started creeping onto Haru’s face. “Aw, you're blushing!” He teased, poking Haru’s cheek fondly. 

“Shut up.” Haru said with a huff. “And yes.” He added quietly. “You were so obvious anyway…” He said turning away from Rin with a tiny smirk.

“Hey! No I wasn't!” Rin bumped him with indignation. 

“Yes, you were. You were always possessive.” 

Rin's ears felt like they were on fire and he growled a bit. “Shut up! It's just that… you're MY rival.” He admitted with a sulk. 

“And your boyfriend.” Haru said nonchalantly tugging Rin closer by his hand. 

Rin just lent his warm face onto his… boyfriend’s shoulder. He couldn't be more pleased. 

“And my boyfriend.” Rin agreed fondly. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> pls leave a comment i like to read em ❤️ thanku


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